BANGKOK, Sep 5 (Kyodo/APP): Thailand’s lower house is set to vote to select the country’s new prime minister Friday, following the removal of Paetongtarn Shinawatra last week over comments in a phone call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen on a May border clash, amid continuing tensions between the countries even after a cease-fire.
The candidate most likely to be elected is Anutin Charnvirakul, head of the Bhumjaithai Party that quit the coalition government led by Paetongtarn’s Pheu Thai Party after the phone call in which she appeared to placate Hun Sen was leaked by Cambodia in June.
The Bhumjaithai Party placed third in the May 2023 general election after Move Forward and the Pheu Thai Party.
Move Forward, now called the People’s Party, won the most seats in the lower house but was prevented from taking power by lawmakers over its bid to amend laws against insulting the monarchy. The party said Wednesday it would support Anutin.
If elected, the conservative Bhumjaithai Party would lead a minority coalition government that does not include the People’s Party, according to local media reports. It has reportedly promised the People’s Party that the House of Representatives will be dissolved within four months.
Following the ouster of Paetongtarn, the government led by the Pheu Thai Party submitted a proposal to dissolve the lower house to the privy council of King Vajiralongkorn earlier this week, but it was rejected, according to the reports.